Carl Crawford: ‘I Cringe’ Every Time I Think About My Time In Boston

Related Tags:

BOSTON (CBS) — Carl Crawford is currently in the midst of what looks to be a career turnaround with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s hitting .306 through 20 games and looks to have completely moved on from his two subpar seasons in Boston.

That, however, still is not the case.

Despite the solid start and general positivity surrounding Crawford these days in L.A., he still can’t think about his time in Boston without feeling bad.

The nightmare, of course, began in December 2010, when Crawford signed on the dotted line for seven years and $142 million from the Red Sox. He then hit .255 in 2011, a full 41 points lower than his career average at the time, with a .694 OPS (87 points off his career number) and just 18 stolen bases (he had averaged 50 swipes in his previous eight seasons). After being a part of the famous 2011 September collapse, he suffered through an injury-plagued 2012 season before being traded with Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett to L.A. in August.

In all, he made $33.5 million for the two seasons.

He opened up during spring training about just how bad his time in Boston was, but it’s clear those feelings are still strong within Crawford nearly a month into the regular season.

“I don’t think I smiled in two years. I was just frowning, I started growing grey hairs on my face from the stress and everything for two years straight,” Crawford told USA Today.

He said, simply, that “everything just went wrong” during his tenure with the Red Sox, and that being reminded of his struggles only made things worse for him.

“When you hear how bad you are every day, doubts spring into your mind,” Crawford lamented. “Deep down, it’s like I know I can still play baseball but after being told how much you suck for two years straight, it kind of messes with your mind.”

If you’re highly concerned about Crawford’s feelings, fear not. He says his teeth are much more visible in Southern California than they were in the Northeast.

“Everybody who comes to see me says, ‘It’s nice to see you smiling again,'” Crawford said.

Rusney Castillo is not getting the start today in exhibition game no. 1 against Northeastern. Is he the odd-man out in the Red Sox outfield? Or is Shane Victorino? Or should we not take anything that happens in spring training seriously? Zolak & Bertrand discuss.